List of Mormon family organizations
Mormon family organizations (i.e., family organizations or associations) are entities created by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) to accomplish the basic purposes of family life as understood within the church, in order to establish and strengthen family unity and identity across multiple generations. Importance As the basic unit of society, the family is also the fundamental organization within the LDS Church. LDS Church members tend to be very family-oriented, and have strong connections across generations and with extended family, often through regular family reunions. For LDS Church members a knowledge and appreciation of one's lineage and heritage is closely connected to the sacred ordinances conducted in LDS temples. In its most general sense, the term "family organization" as used within the church refers to the fundamental concept of eternal family structure encompassed by the Plan of Salvation. More specifically, "family organization" refers to organizations created to provide structure and direction in meeting immediate and long-term family objectives and purposes. In connection therewith, LDS Church leaders have regularly taught the importance of establishing and supporting family organizations. "Six Families Tell How and Why they Organized." Ensign, January 1977, pp. 36–39 During the 20th century as part of the church's semi-annual General Conferences, a "Priesthood Genealogy Seminar" was conducted by LDS Church leaders in which the importance of family organizations was frequently emphasized.One outcome of such emphasis was the development of a filmstrip, Turning the Hearts of the Children, for usage at "family organization meetings." See "Establishing and maintaining family organizations for the immediate and extended family" has been expressly listed as an appropriate way to observe the importance of the Sabbath day in General Conference addresses and other church publications. Purpose and organization In 1978 the church asked all families to organize themselves at three levels: as "immediate" families, "grandparent," and "ancestral." : "From the early days of the Church, LDS families have regularly established family organizations, held reunions, and worked to make strong family identity." Individual or immediate families are regularly encouraged to hold weekly Family Home Evening and participate in family councils. More formal family organizations consist of the descendants of a common ancestor. The purposes of such family organizations may include coordinating family efforts in promoting welfare, education, conducting family history research, holding reunions, compiling family newsletters and publications, and other family-related LDS practices. Commemorating family heritage and legacy is another typical purpose and activity for family organizations. In September 2016, LDS Ancestral Families Association (LDSAFA) was established as a "free registration, publication and support consortium for LDS Ancestral Family Organizations (AFOs)." Influence Formally constituted family organizations figure prominently among descendants of some Mormon pioneers and other early converts to the LDS Church. The longevity of and degree of organization found among many Mormon ancestral family organizations is noteworthy. For example, the Jared Pratt Family Organization was founded in 1881, making it one of the oldest family organizations in the United States in continuous existence. In 1971 the Internal Revenue Service of the United States issued a Revenue Ruling determining that non-profit family organizations that are expressly "formed to compile genealogical research data on its family members in order to perform religious ordinances in accordance with the precepts of the religious denomination to which family members belong" are exempt under Section 501(c)(3).IRS Rev. Rul. 71-580 The Revenue Ruling noted that "as part of the discipline of the Church, the members are encouraged to create family groups to study the genealogy of the family back to Adam and Eve. This is part of a broader program of the Church, apparent in its doctrine to record the names of all deceased persons and to perform baptism and other temple ordinances upon them." Given their extensive documentation of lineages connecting many thousands of living individuals to a single common ancestor, their relatively larger extended family size (attributable in part to the early Mormon practice of plural marriage), relatively larger immediate family size, religious emphasis on "clean" or healthy living, and relative longevity, the genealogical data maintained by many Mormon ancestral family organizations have also been instrumental in medical research of genetic disorders. The University of Utah has made unique contributions to the study of genetics due in part to long-term genealogy efforts of the LDS Church, which has allowed researchers to trace genetic disorders through several generations. The relative homogeneity of Utah's population also makes it an ideal laboratory for studies of population genetics. The university is home to the Genetic Science Learning Center, a resource which educates the public about genetics through its website. There are several large Mormon ancestral family organizations, notable for their longevity, quality or degree of organization, or connection to well-known deceased or currently living persons. A non-exhaustive list appears below. The name(s) of the primary ancestor are included in parentheses when not otherwise obvious or apparent. Organizations (alphabetized by male progenitor surname) ;A *Allred Family Organization (William Allred) *Milo Andrus Family Organization ;B *Israel Barlow Family Association *Barton Family Organization (John Barton) *Belnap Family Organization (Gilbert Belnap/Adaline Knight/Henrietta McBride) *Bennion Family Association *Braithwaite Family Organization *Brough Family Organization *Orson Pratt Brown Family ;C *Anson Bowen Call Family Organization *Cardon Family Organization *William Cazier and Pleasant Drake Family Organization *Ezra Thompson Clark Family Organization *Moses Clawson Family Organization *Phineas Wolcott Cook Family Organization *Myron E. Crandall Family Organization ;E *Bishop David Evans Family Association *Ewell Family Historical & Genealogical Society ;F *Winslow Farr, Sr. Organization *Nathan H. Felt Family Association ;H *Hale Family Organization *Hanks Place (Ephraim Hanks) *Nathan Harris and Rhoda Lapham Family *John and Jane Hayes of Clonakilty Family Organization *Joseph Leland Heywoodhttp://josephlelandheywood.com/ *Patriarch Thomas Hicken Family Organizationourhickenfamily.org/index.php *John N. Hinton Family Organization *Abraham Hunsaker Family Organization ;J *Benjamin F. Johnson Family Organization *George and Ann Prior Jarvis Family Association ;K *Heber C. Kimball Family Association *Knaphus Family Organization (Torleif S. Knaphus, sculptor) ;L *Christopher Layton Family Organization *Leavitt Family Organization (Thomas Leavitt) *John Doyle Lee Family Association ;M *Alexander Findlay Macdonald Family *Karl G. Maeser Family Organization *John Marriott Historical Society *Maughan Family Organization (Peter Maughan) *Daniel McBride and Abigail Mead Family *Joseph Stacy Murdock Family Organization ;N *Alexander Neibaur Family Organization ;O *Osmond Family Organization ;P *John Pack Family Association *Packard Family Organization (Forrest Packard) *Sanford Porter Family Organization *Jared Pratt Family Association ;R *Henry Rampton Family Association *John Hardison Redd and Elizabeth Hancock Family Organization *Charles C. Rich Family Association *Thomas E. Ricks Family Association ;S *Justus Azel Seelye Family Organization *Jesse N. Smith Family Association *Joseph Smith, Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family Association *Joseph Smith, Jr. Family Organization *Joseph F. Smith Family Association *Samuel Harrison Smith Foundation *Erastus Snow Family Organization *Sorensen Family History Organization (Nicolai Sorensen/Magdelena Olsen) *John Martin Steiner Family Organization *Edward Stevenson Family Organization *Joseph Stout Family Organization ;T *George Washington Taggart Family Organization *Joseph Taylor, Sr. Family Association *Tolman Family Organization *Theodore Turley Family Organization ;W *John Fleming Wakefield Family Organization *John Walker Family Organization *John Henry Owen Willcox Family Organization *Workman Family Organization (John Workman) ;Y *Brigham Young Family Association See also *Culture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints *Daughters of the Utah Handcart Pioneers *Daughters of Utah Pioneers *Family *FamilySearch *Family association *Family history *Family History Library *Family history society *Family reunion *The Family: A Proclamation to the World *Genealogy *List of hereditary and lineage organizations *Mormon pioneers *Sons of Utah Pioneers References Sources * * * * Mormon Category:Genealogy and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Category:History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Category:Latter Day Saint families Category:Latter Day Saint organizations Category:Latter Day Saint movement lists